Announcing: The Ambassador Plates

This has been my dream for many years. It may be my best one yet…

The latest evolution of the Ambassador is taking place at restaurants throughout Jackson Heights, Queens. At these participating restaurants, the chef is your Ambassador. All you have to do is pay $10 (or $20) and the staff will give you their picks of the day for your meal. It’s easy to employ, and the restaurants are happy to show off their best stuff for a fair price. Look for the sticker around the neighborhood – even if they don’t speak English, just point to the sticker and your ordering will be taken care of. We’re crossing all barriers of communication here.

All of these eateries have been specifically chosen for this program. I am very lucky to be in this neighborhood, where the owners are very frequently the cooks, servers, and owners. This is a highly Himalayan list so far, but that’s because it’s the make-up of our mom-and-pop shops. In fact, Juju’s is the only place not South Asian – It’s a bagel shop with homemade salads, desserts and it’s hard to choose so this will be helpful for everyone. But for someone from Nepal, I’m sure this will help them navigate Juju’s too.

Which would I pick? I have no clue. All of these businesses I work with are such nice people, working hard and happy to show you around what they do. There are a few that I’m most intrigued with that this would be particularly helpful in – like GangJong Kitchen and Chilli Chicken, places where I know they are great but I still have no idea what to order. I def want to check out what’s new with Little Tibet; I can’t choose, every one of these places I want to learn from. I’m lucky to live here. Really, everything I do is entirely selfish – I made this so I could relieve myself from the burdens of choosing in my own neighborhood, but I hope many other people like you will take advantage of it too.

I am very excited to see what each one will do with this. Some might fail, but some will flourish. At the time, this is limited to Jackson Heights, but I would love to help make this happen in other neighborhoods throughout the city or the country, working with gov’t orgs to make it happen. Even if I am not involved, I would love to see this method employed elsewhere just to make it easier for everyone.

Please let me know about your experiences, and if you have any issues, please tell me right away and I will check in on the situation. This is all supposed to be as easy and beneficial for all parties involved. I hope this works…

Allergies can be tough. On some of my tours, I have these pieces of paper which say No Gluten in every language. For these places on the list though, you will probably be able to find someone dining there who speaks English fairly well, even if the restaurant owner does not. Don’t be afraid!